The Watchmen: California Artist Arrested After TSA Spots Curious Watch
jonathanturley
Geoffrey McGann, 49, is an artist and the creative director of a media production company called Generator Content. It appears that he was too creative for those folks at TSA. The California artist was arrested at Oakland International Airport because security officers did not like his unusual watch which they said looked too much like a timing device for a bomb. The watch had ornate switches, wires, and fuses so the bomb squad was called and the security checkpoint shutdown. Even after the bomb squad determined it was not a bomb within five minutes, however, McGann was arrested and charged by Alameda County Sheriff’s Department with possessing materials to make an explosive device.
McGann repeatedly explained the watch was a piece of art but it turns out that a bomb is in the eye of a TSA beholder. The police also noted that he appeared to have made alterations to his boots, which were unusually large and stuffed with layers of insoles. Sort of like an artist or someone with bad feet (or an artist with bad feet) would do. The police also noted that he had no extra clothes for the trip.
Sgt. J.D. Nelson, a spokesman for the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department, insisted “He does do art kind of stuff, but what reasonable person would bring a watch like that into an airport and think that’s OK? You may have a toy gun as art, but would you bring it to the airport?” Now that sounds like some solid police work. The answer to the question, Sgt. Nelson, is that a free person would wear such a watch since he is not a terrorist and it is not a bomb.
